ANZ customer Chloe Ferrari was blocked from her bank account after she ignored requests to provide her information, believing it was a scam. (Source: TikTok, @chloefferrari/Getty)
An ANZ customer was left unable to pay for a coffee after she ignored a seemingly “suspicious” text message from the major bank. Aussies have been warned that if they dismiss these types of requests from their bank, they could end up blocked from their accounts.
Banks will reach out to their customers from time to time asking them to confirm their personal details. This is part of industry-wide Know Your Customer or KYC requirements which were introduced in recent years to help combat fraud.
An ANZ spokesperson told Yahoo Finance these simple messages to customers are a regulatory requirement, which comes under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act.
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“Under regulatory guidelines, banks are required to verify and regularly update customer information to help prevent fraud, money laundering, and other financial crimes,” the spokesperson said.
“This process generally involves customers confirming or updating their contact details within a specified timeframe.”
Online creator Chloe Ferrari was recently blocked from her ANZ bank account for ignoring the request.
“I was getting multiple text messages from ANZ saying if you don’t click this link and confirm your details, then all withdrawals from your account are gonna be blocked,” the Melbourne woman said.
ANZ’s messages will generally let customers know they need them to complete its ‘Know Your Customer requirements’ and may ask them to log into their internet banking or app and follow the prompts.
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Ferrari has been a customer of ANZ since she was 13 and, thinking it was a scam, ignored the messages.
“The day comes, the day that they say my account’s going to be blocked… I go to pay for my coffee… declined. Declined, $6.40,” she said.
“Yeah, my account is fully blocked. It actually was ANZ, they did just wanna confirm my details.
“But anyways it was ANZ, my fault.”
Ferrari shared the story on social media with many other Aussies saying they’d received similar messages and also assumed it was some kind of scam.
“The exact same thing happened to me. Totally thought a scam till I couldn’t pay for my groceries. Called them and it really was them, been with them over 15 years and never had to before,” one person commented on her video.
“Omg that happened to me so I rang and the lady said it’s a real thing,” another said.
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Ferrari added that said she was easily able to sort out access to her account after being blocked.
With scams running rampant at the moment, it’s no surprise that many Aussies are suspicious of messages they receive out of the blue from a bank.
“We understand and encourage all customers to stay alert to suspicious messages and to check their legitimacy,” the ANZ spokesperson told Yahoo Finance.
“Legitimate ANZ messages can be verified by calling ANZ on the number listed on the website or by customers logging into their internet banking or ANZ app.”
Your bank will usually ask you to confirm your details securely via internet banking and your bank’s app. To be safe, you can navigate to online banking yourself and log on from the site you know is legitimate.
If you’re unsure, you can call your bank on its publicly listed number to confirm.
This can depend on whether you are an individual or a business.
You can be asked for your full name, date of birth, citizenship, residential address, occupation and source of wealth.
If you have a business banking product, you can be asked to confirm the name of the business and entity details, business address and industry information.
You could be asked to provide information even if you have been a customer of the bank for a long time, due to the changing laws and regulations.
If you don’t confirm your details, your bank may restrict your access to your bank account. This can include restricting purchases and withdrawals on a card, so your card is declined at the point of purchase.
Banks will have different time limits on when you will have to provide your banking information.
An Australian Banking Association spokesperson previously told Yahoo Finance banks were not permitted to continue to provide services when they are aware that information was out of date.
“This means that if a customer doesn’t respond to repeated requests for information, banks may be legally required to restrict or close the account,” the spokesperson said.
“These checks are essential to protect customers and the financial system from fraud, scams and criminal misuse.”
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